The AWARE Teacher: Well Ways of Working in the Classroom

Melinda Phillips | Organisational Psychologist

Melinda is an organisational psychologist and teacher with over twenty years' experience supporting schools. She has established "Compassionate Schools" to support teachers and schools to adopt and integrate well ways of working for their staff. Services include supervision, coaching, and psychology support for teachers and school leaders; staff wellbeing workshops, and school leader/whole staff programs. Melinda also draws on her org psych training to provide support to school leaders when required.

Melinda's psychology honours and Masters research focused on workplace wellbeing, specifically burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress following critical incidents, and the protective factors that lead to resilience and wellbeing.

Melinda has taught K-12 and has held roles including Senior Consultant with headspace schools/Be You; Consultant: School Innovation with the Association of Independent Schools of NSW; Teaching Educator with Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta; and Lead - Program Content and Evaluation and General Manager with Good Grief/MacKillop Seasons. Melinda has also practiced as a school counsellor with the Catholic Schools Office Diocese of Broken Bay. Melinda is an accredited coach with the International Coach Federation as an Associate Certified Coach and utilises coaching in her practice.

Session Information

School life has changed, and teachers and leaders can consider new skills to cope well and flourish. The AWARE Teacher workshop shares Australian evidence-based, real-time strategies that teachers and leaders can use in their workspaces to maintain and grow their wellbeing amidst ongoing challenges, and build a sustainable hope-filled, compassionate approach to their working life. The AWARE Teacher workshop will be interactive and enable discussion, questions and answers and scenarios. Participants will consider five research backed strategies focused on well ways of working while they are at school:

• How to tune in to thoughts, feelings and body messages
• How to apply the neurobiology of stress and coping in the classroom
• The importance of 'compassion satisfaction' and knowing what is enough
• Key real-time restoration strategies
• How to engage well with others to support wellbeing.

Session Date and Time

Venue for face-to-face attendance | Learning Centre
Date | Term 1, Week 5, Tuesday 25 February
Time | 4.00pm– 5.00pm
Audience | ECEC – Year 12 Teachers and Educators
Cost | There is no cost for this event

OR Virtual online attendance